A suicide bombing by a Boko Haram jihadist has killed 11 people in northern Cameroon, a provincial governor said Thursday, warning civilians not to breach special security measures aimed at preventing such attacks.
It was the latest in a spate of raids blamed on the Nigeria-based Islamist militant group in the area, which have driven tens of thousands of people from their homes.
A security source said the attacker blew himself up in the town of Djakana near the Nigerian border overnight. “Seven people were killed immediately, including the bomber,” the source said, adding that most of the victims were members of a local vigilante group tasked with hunting down Boko Haram fighters.
“They were gathered in a video room when the attacker entered and triggered his explosives,” the security source said. Midjiyawa Bakari, the governor of the region, told AFP that 11 people had died and four had been wounded.
Bakari slammed “the imprudence of the youths running the video club,” adding: “While such activities are forbidden, they take risks in showing films at night in the bush… “We are asking on the local population to wait until we give the go-ahead for the resumption of such activities, especially on the frontline,” he said, referring to security measures put in place in the area in the wake of Boko Haram raids.
Boko Haram’s seven-year insurgency has left at least 20,000 people dead in Nigeria and border areas of neighbouring Niger, Chad and Cameroon, and made more than 2.6 million homeless. Some 2,000 Chadian soldiers are set to launch a counter-offensive against the group in the region, as part of a fightback by the four countries targeted by the group.
Boko Haram has regularly used women and children to stage suicide bombings, targeting mosques, markets, bus stations and checkpoints. But the overnight attack comes after a lull in violence in this border zone near Nigeria.
[AFP]
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